We Should Be GMs

Phillies Baseball

Are you ready for a bonkers bit of history?The Philadelphia Phillies have played 55 one-run games. If they don't play any more, that means more than 33 percent of their games have been of the one run variety. Overall, the team has a .390 winning percentage, but a .364 mark in one-run games. Compare this with the last season and back.Year One-run games Record in one-run games2016 53 .5492015 43 .3722014 55 .5092013 56 .5002012 52 .4812011 47 .5962010 46 .6302009 45 .5332008 50 .5402007 37 .3782006 45 .4892005 44 .4772004 43 .5352003 38 .5262002 46 .4782001 49 .5512000 60 .4171999 44 .4681998 57 .5091997 43 .5351996 47 .5321995 43 .4651994 38 .3161993 43 .5351992 52 .4041991 63 .5711990 54 .5191[...]

I've watched baseball my entire life (soon to be 38 years). This is the most amazing thing I've ever witnessed. What Rhys Hoskins has done to begin his career is literally history in the making. This is an open blog post to drop adoration for "Rhys Lightning" in the comments sections. Have at it WSBGMs readers...

allowfullscreen="" class="giphy-embed" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://giphy.com/embed/l0MYt5jPR6QX5pnqM" width="480">via GIPHYLook, J.P. Crawford had some early season struggles. There's no doubt about it. But even with those struggles, he has a .351 on-base percentage and .405 slugging mark. He still hit 15 home runs, 20 doubles and six triples.

Crawford might not light the world on fire like Rhys Hoskins has during his September call-up. But he's going to make the offense better. He's going to force the opposition to throw pitches, something the lineup has lacked for quite a long time.

Crawford won't push the Phillies toward 70 wins. But he could be the difference between 100 losses and 97 losses, either of which probably get you the top 1 or 2 spots in next years draft.

The Phillies will announce their September call-ups momentarily. This is what I would do if I were in General Manager Matt Klentak's situation.

The locks

J.P. Crawford: If I'm Klentak, I call up Crawford and tell Pete he plays at short every day. For some reason, Phillies fans and some of the local media have fallen in love with Freddy Galvis. Look, he's having the best year of his career and he's still not very valuable. Defensively, he makes highlight reel plays, but i'ts not enough to make up for the bad offense. He's dropped off from last year, when he was plus-5 in defensive runs saved and had a UZR of 15.1. This year, he's at -4 runs save and a 3.9 UZR, which isn't terrible at all. It's basically top 5 in the league.Fangraphs gives him a 1.4 WAR; Baseball-Reference has him with 1.0 WAR.

It wouldn't shock me if Crawford topped those WAR numbers in a month.

Drew Anderson: The 23-year-old is already on the 40-man roster and has pitched well in Double-A. The Phillies think they have a nice piece in him. He can provide some depth for the staff during the final month of the season.

The possible

Carlos Tocci: The Phillies will need to add him to the 40-man roster this offseason, so they might as well do it now. Let him get a couple of starts in center field to see how he handles it. The 21-year-old has hit .298/.349/.387 and is still filling out. The only thing that would keep him down for me is that it might be wasting an option.

Alberto Tirado: The kid was once a top 100 prospect. He's got quite an arm. He didn't particularly pitch that well this year, but the team is going to want to see what it has as it tries to figure out the 40-man roster this season. Seeing him work against big league batters a few times could be valuable for the franchise as it weighs his value against some other minor leaguers.

Out of luck

Scott Kingery: I cannot tell you how much I want to see Kingery in the Big Leagues. Scotty Jetpacks is going to be a force. But like Crawford, he's not on the 40-man roster. The Phillies well need to conserve some spots this winter as they work their way through the Rule 5 Draft. They're going to have to protect a fair amount of talent. So we'll see him in 2018.

In case you haven't been following this historic statistic since it's inception prior to the 2009 season, The Howard is anytime a player hits a homerun, commits and error, and strikes out in the same ball game.

Congrats kid, you deserve all the recognition and praise being heaped upon you.

All the ballyhooed pitching prospects have been duds thus far, for the most part.

Jake Thompson...turd.

Nick Pivetta...turd.

Zach Eflin...turd.

Vince Velasquez...turd.

Edubray Ramos...turd.

Ricardo Pinto...turd.

Mark Appel...turd.

Oh, lest not forget Jerad Eickhoff, who has taken a big step backwards. Oh, and Hector Neris' woes late in games. Oh, and the shit-show Joely Rodriguez displayed before his exodus. Jessen Therrien isn't making a good impression either.

Now onto the offense.

Maikel Franco...ginormous turd.

Tommy Joseph...turd.

Cam Perkins and Brock Stassi haven't done anything to help their stock either.

Let's take a look in on the Phillies positional players ranks among their MLB counterparts.

*Minimum plate appearance - 250

Cameron Rupp/Catcher - .730 OPS (17th/26) & 1.2 WAR (17th/26)

Tommy Joseph/First Base - .726 OPS (29th/31) & -0.7 WAR (30th/31)

Cesar Hernandez/Second Base - .792 (12th/34) & 2.5 WAR (7th/34)

Freddy Galvis/Shortstop - .717 OPS (18th/30) & 1.5 WAR (15th/30)

Maikel Franco/Third Base - .668 OPS (28th/29) & -1.0 WAR (29th/29)

Odubel Herrera/Center Field - .799 OPS (12th/35) & 2.6 WAR (7th/35)

Aaron Altherr/Right Field - .894 OPS (5th/31) & 1.7 WAR (15th/31)

First and third base are positions that a team should expect big OPS from, not the piddling numbers the Phillies have received. Franco and Joseph are poor in every facet of the game - defense, offense, and running. However, both are still young and were once highly touted prospects. What to do? I am in favor to moving Freddy Galvis to 3rd base and letting JP Crawford get his feet wet. Maybe Franco losing his starting gig will force him to do something about it. I'm also in favor of trading Joseph this offseaon and giving Rhys Hoskins the first base job. Both Scott Kingery (second base) and Crawford (shortstop) seem ready for promotion. Perhaps Hernandez could handle 3rd next season and Galvis could rotate around the diamond like a supersub. We already know he can handle the infield and the outfield shouldn't be a stretch for him given his athleticism. Just trade Franco for something...relief help?

Then Galvis gets a start a week at 2nd, SS, 3rd, LF, and RF. That's a team with better defense, offense, and speed, not to mention more rested regulars due to Galvis' versatility. Cam Perkins could serve as outfield reserve and Brock Stassi bench bat. Honestly think that could be a team to get excited about.

Maikel Franco is by far the worst everyday 3rd baseman in baseball and his WAR (-0.7) ranks 157 out 164 qualified batters in MLB. His hips fly open when he swings, leading his upper body to open up and pull everything, so much so, that it knocks the damn helmet off his head. He disgusts me. Over-hyped bust. Although still a mere 24 years old, I'd be ready to wash my hands of him, if only the Phillies had someone capable of playing third base ready in the minors. Of course, they could call-up JP Crawford and let Freddy Galvis play 3rd. Or perhaps Cesar Hernandez or Scott Kingery have the arm to handle the hot corner. All I know is that I hate watching Franco bat and the results justify my revulsion.Austin Listi, drafted in the 17th round this June, has moved up to Single-A Lakewood already. In 24 games he's batting .310/.938 with 19 R, 6 DBL, 5 HR, 19 RBI, and 3 SB. He's manned 1st base and both left and right field thus far. Aaron Nola looks like the ace we'd all hope he'd become when he was drafted in the 1st round back in 2014. Watching his fastball dart all over the strikezone with its late life is a thing of beauty. One of the few bright spots this season for the Phillies.Jhailyn Ortiz, he of the tender age of 18, is mashing the ball in Williamsport. He did alright as a 17 year old outfielder in the Gulf Coast League last summer, but he's made significant strides to improve himself this season, and he's now batting .306/1.026 in 32 games with 22 R, 9 DBL, 7 HR, 25 RBI, and 3 SB. The Phillies signed a lefty out of Russia that goes by the name of Anton Kuznetsov (extremely Russian) and he's killing it in his debut in the USA. Over 8 appearances for the Gulf Coast League Phillies, he's pitched 14.1 innings, striking out 16, allowed only 6 base runners and nary a run. Mother Russia!Quincy Nieporte, a 26th round pick this June, is impressing in the Gulf Coast as well. The first baseman has hit .343/1.092 with 14 R, 9 DBL, 4 HR, and 14 RBI over 18 games. He also likes to celebrate by shotgunning a beer after hits. allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sk1yOvi6Uyc" width="490">He could also challenge Odubel Herrera in a bat flipping contest. allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Bplvg2-zxs8" width="490">[...]

On June 22, the Phillies fell to 22-48. It seemed like the Phillies were on track for a monumentally bad season. They were amid a stretch of brutal baseball that culminated in an 11-37 mark. The fact they'd started the season 11-11 was a distant memory.

It was the game Tommy Pham homered off Hector Neris in the ninth inning, then Edubray Ramos botched a pick-off throw that led a run to score.It seemed to be the most 2017 Phillies game of 2017. The absolute Nadir.

Phillies got to extra innings I see.

Good news is Edubray Ramos got an out after not recording one his last 2 outings.

Hey, it's been awhile. Sorry to our hordes of readers desperately checking daily for WSBGMs updates. Have no fear, I am here. Special shout out to Robert in NEPA. You know why.

First up...The Howard. Ryan Howard might be out of baseball, but his namesake stat goes on. Francisco Lindor of the Indians just collected his 3rd Howard of the season to sit upon the throne. Refresher course, a Howard is anytime a players hits a homerun, strikes out, and commits an error all within the same ball game. The leader board for the 2017 season is located on the blog's right sidebar. Unlike blog posts, I do update that daily. You're welcome.

Next on the docket, the trades. All three trades were good trades. Why? None of those players have a future in Philly in 2018. Neshek got us 3 decent Single-A prospects. Kendrick and Hellickson were taking needed developmental time away from younger players, so getting anything for them was a bonus. The lefty in the Kendrick trade might end up being worthwhile, but the Helly deal was just bleh. Klentak was able to get some international spending money in the deals too, so that helps moving forward. Hyun Soo Kim was included in the O's package to help balance Helly's contract. He'll essentially pinch hit for the Phils, if not get cut altogether.

Now onto what remains on the Phillies roster. I would welcome a Joaquin Benoit trade, but he's disappointed this season, so it's doubtful any contender would even want him. Danial Nava would have been a nice addition for a playoff hopeful team, but he's on the DL. Hopefully he'll get healthy and an August deal can be worked out. As much as I love Andres Blanco. He needs to go. I know he's technically the Phillies utility infielder, but he's been all kinds of terrible this year with the bat. Maybe it's time to give JP Crawford that much anticipated MLB debut and move Freddy Galvis to a super utility role. Other players on the team that don't make much sense to me - Ty Kelly and Adam Morgan. Morgan was marginally okay his rookie seasons, but has posted an ERA/WHIP of 6.00+/1.50+ the past two years. Time to audition a new arm.

Aaron Nola is starting to look like the Aaron Nola we all anticipated when he was drafted a few years back. Nick Pivetta is doing alright. Mark Leiter Jr. has surprised me so far. Ben Lively isn't striking anybody out, but he's still doing his job. Jerad Eickhoff is on the mend, as are Zach Eflin and Vince Velasquez.

That's 7 starting pitchers. A rotation only holds 5 and the Phillies' current one still has veteran Jeremy Hellickson in it for the time being.

One easy fix - deal Hellickson for whatever. Honestly, he should have been dealt last season.

My rotation after Hellickson is traded would be - 1) Nola, 2) Eickhoff, 3) Pivetta, 4) Lively, and 5) Eflin. Move Leiter back to the bullpen and let Velasquez get some innings there as well.

Oh, the Phils have some guys in the minors seemingly ready too. Tom Eshelman, a forgotten man in the Giles trade, has bee excellent through 11 Triple-A starts (1.96 ERA/0.94 WHIP) and Brandon Leibrandt is making a good impression as well (7-2 with a 3.23 ERA/1.35 WHIP combined between Reading and Lehigh Valley). Of course, Jake Thompson is still around, but he's been terrible this year (5.97 ERA/1.67 WHIP) and Mark Appel continues to toil (4.87 ERA/1.67 WHIP).

It's Klentak's job to figure out what he's got moving into 2018. Personally, I think they're mostly backend starters with the exception of Nola and Eickhoff.

We're halfway through the season, so let's take stock of where the Phillies are, statistically. Yes, we know it's bad. But some things might surprise you how bad they are. Other things might surprise you with a bit of improvement. We'll start off with the record. 201636-45, 13 games back201728-53, 20 games backSo, the Phillies are eight games back of last year's pace. That's a lot. If they win eight more games in the second half, they'll have 64 wins on the season. Let's look at the rest of the numbers. We'll compare this year's half season to last year's full season. Then add in how much the stats differ at this point from half of last season's totals.On offense Stat 2016 2017 DifferenceRuns per game 3.90 3.76 +.14Times shut out 11 4 - 1.5Batting Average .240 .243 + .03On-Base Pctg .301 .305 + .04Slugging Pctg .384 .392 + .08OPS .685 .697 + .12Stolen Bases 96 33 - 15Caught Stealing 45 17 - 5.5Home Runs 161 79 -1.5So the offense is pretty much treading water. We see slight improvements in on-base and slugging percentages, batting average and runs scored per game. But we're seeing slightly fewer home runs and a huge dropoff in stolen base attempts. I can't help but think a slightly more aggressive - but smart - approach on the basepaths could help this team capitalize more on those small improvements. From the moundERA 4.63 4.74 +.11FIP 4.34 4.80 +.46WHIP 1.346 1.415 +.069H/9 9.2 9.4 +.2BB/9 2.9 3.4 +.5HR/9 &nbsp[...]

frameborder="0" height="224" src="http://m.mlb.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=1525715383&topic_id=9782246&width=400&height=224&property=mlb" width="400">Your browser does not support iframes.Yes, Odubel Herrera had a listless month of May. He hit .183/.196/.257. Yes, he has stumbled on the bases in frustrating and repeated fashion recently.But the argument that Herrera isn't a valuable building block moving forward is patently absurd. Anyone who argues the Phillies should trade Herrera is a mouthbreather who couldn't beat a stalk of celery in a game of tic-tac-toe if you spotted that person two X's.Look, if some team comes calling and offers two top 100 prospects as part of a package, you probably pull the trigger.But Odubel Herrera will not make more than $12.5 million during his contract with the Phillies. With options, it can run through the 2023 season. Meanwhile, Herrera enters today's game, despite his worst month in the big leagues, with a .698 OPS, with 5 home runs and 5 stolen bases. He has a .922 OPS this month. It's not hard to imagine Herrera ending the year with a third straight season of an OPS above .760. It's not hard to imagine him having a second straight season with more than 10 homers and 10 stolen bases. He's probably going to eclipse his career high of 30 doubles. He's on track to soar past his career high of 42 extra-base hits in a season. Trading Herrera at this point, just to trade him, would be a horrifying mistake.

The Philadelphia Phillies are on pace to lose 110 games this season. They're currently sitting on a record of 24-51, worst in baseball. They've been outscored by 102 runs by their opponents. Their offense and pitching are nearly the worst in baseball. They're getting below average production from every position except shortstop and left field (thanks Galvis, Kendrick, and Altherr!). This team is terrible. No hyperbole in that statement.

Part of the thing that amazes me about how bad this year has been is that so many players, individually, have been awful. If you told me the team was going to finish with 90-plus losses, I'd have been as shocked as if you'd told me it would have won 90-plus games. But with the losses, I'd still expect to see some growth among several players. Which players have been most disappointing?Zach EflinA big part of the problem for the Phillies is that Eflin will be the first of five expected starters to make this list. He's currently shelved with an arm injury, but he got rocked when he took the hill, posting an ERA above 6.Jerad EickhoffThe right-hander has pitched very effectively since arriving in the Cole Hamels trade. This year, however, he's taken a leap backwards. He currently holds a 4.81 ERA, 4.17 FIP and unsightly 1.503 WHIP. He's also only gotten past the sixth inning twice all year.Maikel FrancoThe third baseman was expected to be a cornerstone of the lineup. Instead, he's batting .223/.285/.368. The skills are clearly there, but they don't translate. Jeremy HellicksonHelly came into the year having pitched 18 months of strong baseball. There was no real reason to believe he'd have a 4.91 ERA, 5.91 FIP and 1.325 WHIPOdubel HerreraNo doubt the Phillies' center fielder has been playing well of late. He's got a .333/.351/.587 line in his last 17 games, but a .250/.287/.402 mark overall. Based on his superb track record from 2015-16, he should continue that bounce back. Hector NerisJust looking at his numbers, the young fireballer looks like he's having a mediocre season. The problem is the Phillies expected much more out of him. His 1.364 WHIP and 4.05 FIP show he hasn't been as lights out as expected.Aaron NolaThe right-hander was supposed to be a building block. He's flashed some brilliance, but he's also missed time with an injury and currently has a 4.76 ERA.Cameron RuppThe Phillies backstop has looked downright awful at points this season and carries a .203/.292/.358 slash line into tonight's game. His game-calling has given Pete Mackanin and Bob McClure fits.Michael SaundersThe rental was supposed to solidify the lineup with professional at-bats. Management and fans expected much more than last year's carousel of incompetence. Instead, they got worse production. Saunders has been punchless offensively and been a nonfactor in the field. Vincent VelasquezThe right-hander with the electric arm has been lit up so far. When he's pitched. Velasquez has made just 10 of his 14 possible starts. In them, he's given up a 5.58 ERA, 5.25 FIP and 1.460 WHIP. For my money, this is how I'd rank them. 1. Eickhoff. I never expected him to be an ace, but figured he'd be a solid rotation piece moving forward. He needs to have a strong second half if he is going to be a part of the future here. 2. VV. I've never been as high on him as most. The arm is brilliant, but it's better served as a late inning guy. 3. Hellickson. If Hellickson could have gone into July with an ERA in the 2.90-3.60 range and had five or six starts of seven innings or more, the Phillies would have been able to get a nice package for him from a contending team. 4. Aaron Nola. We've seen enough good starts to know he's part of the future if he can stay healthy. 5. Franco. We've reached a point where the Phillies have to wonder if he's worth having around much longer. They could bring up Kingery and Crawford and move Galvis to third and the lineup might be better.6. Eflin. I'd hoped he'd pitch a lot better. Didn't expect a Cy Young out of him, but a competent back of the rotation piece would be nice. 7. Herrera. No doubt, he's struggled, but I still have plenty of faith in him as a top of[...]

The Phillies selected Virginia outfielder Adam Haseley in the first round of the draft on Monday. While one could argue pitching should be a priority, the second and third round can give you a lot of rewards there if you're willing to pay the price.

We looked at Haseley as one of the five players we expected to the Phillies to pick. It's a solid selection, but with Pavin Smith off the board just one slot before, I can't help but think the Phillies missed one there.

A good thing about Haseley is that he comes from Virginia, which is becoming a power when it comes to producing Major League players.

The university currently has 10 players in the Big Leagues. Washington Nationals' Ryan Zimmerman leads the way. Sean Doolittle is an All-Star reliever (career 3.07 ERA, 2.50 FIP, .945 WHIP) for Oakland. Mark Reynolds has hit more than 200 home runs in his career.

The Angels picked Matt Thaiss last year and he's already climbing their system. Cleveland selected Mike Papi in the first round in 2014, and was hitting .287/.387/.434 in AA before a promotion to AAA earlier this season.

Thanks to YouTube, baseball fans can have more of an educated opinions on the players their favorite teams will select in the draft. I spent several hours the past few days looking at some of the players to give you a brief breakdown of what the draft might offer for the Phillies.Before we move on to the players, here's the skinny. The draft starts at 7 p.m. The Phillies pick eighth, with the Minnesota Twins, Cincinnati Reds, San Diego Padres, Tampa Bay Rays, Atlanta Braves, Oakland Athletics and Arizona Diamondbacks on the board ahead of them. Eighth isn't a bad spot because this seems to be a fairly deep draft. Who will be off the board?It seems a few players are all-but guaranteed to be selected with the first six picks. They are Brendon McKay, Hunter Green (What a baseball name), MacKenzie Gore, Royce Lewis, and Keston Hiura. I've seen a few guys other guys in and out of that top six, but rarely seen these five guys not in it.If any of these guys fall to the Phillies, they have to pick them.The Fab FiveThere are five players I regularly see falling in the 5-10 range, but rarely see in the top 5. We'll briefly break them down alphabetically. I'm not going to pretend I know more about these guys than I do. But what I know, I'll give you. An argument could be made the Phillies should concentrate on pitching. But there is a very good chance a very good prospect will fall to them at 8. It's unlikely they won't dive on that opportunity.Austin Beck allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CwMIcSG8JMA?ecver=2" style="height: 100%; left: 0; position: absolute; width: 100%;" width="640">There is a good chance this right-handed hitting outfielder will be around when the Phillies pick at 8. In some ways, he reminds you of Mickey Moniak, the player the Phillies selected first overall last year. He's a high schooler, though. The Phillies have picked several high schoolers a lot recently (Moniak, Larry Greene Jr., Cornelius Randolph, J.P. Crawford) with so-so success. Alex Faedo allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/V0mTXCjwJWk?ecver=2" style="height: 100%; left: 0; position: absolute; width: 100%;" width="640">Faedo has impressive stuff, but the right-hander out of Florida has some iffy mechanics. The Phillies selected a college starter at 7 not to long ago and it probably will work out. I'm still very high on Aaron Nola, though. We'll have to see if they'll take a chance on a guy with Faedo's stuff at 8, when I see a lot of mock drafts putting him a bit later. Adam Haseley allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rptSCyCkcis?ecver=2" style="height: 100%; left: 0; position: absolute; width: 100%;" width="640">Here's another outfielder with a ton of tools. But as a prospect from Virginia, which seems to be doing a great job of sending its collegiate players to the Major Leagues, he's closer to the Bigs. He reminds you of a young Darin Erstad, plays good defense, gets on base, has some noticeable stuff. Also, he was a solid pitcher.Pavin Smith allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1TEaLI-XWCM?ecver=2" style="height: 100%; left: 0; position: absolute; width: 100%;" width="640">I'm not a huge fan of player comparisons, but that seems to be the gig when it comes to looking at prospects. That said, his swing reminds me of a combination of Joe Mauer and Jim Thome. The Virginia first baseman could be an impact bat. He should be around when the Phillies pick. He's probably my favorite player of the group.Kyle Wright allowfullscreen=""[...]

I've never understood why the Philadelphia Phillies have hired Bob McClure and I find it completely unfathomable why he's still employed by the franchise.Track recordBob McClure was the pitching coach for the Kansas City Royals and Boston Red Sox. He was fired by each organization. Let's break down how the pitching staffs performed under McClure. To set the scenes, the Royals hired McClure in the midst of their two decade long stretch of mediocrity while the Red Sox hired him four years after they won the World Series. The 2011 Red Sox finished ninth in ERA, third in hits allowed, eighth in home runs and 12th in walks. Kansas City Royals2006ERA: LastHits allowed: 14Walks allowed: 14Home runs allowed: 13Strikeouts: 14All Stars: Mark Redman (Had a 5.71 ERA), a veteran trade acquisition2007ERA: 7Hits allowed: 11Walks allowed: 7Home runs allowed: 10Strikeouts: 13All Star: Gil Meche, a free agent signee2008ERA: 10Hits allowed: 7 Walks allowed: 7Home runs allowed: 6Strikeouts: 7All Star: 02009ERA: 12Hits allowed: 7Walks allowed: 14Home runs allowed: 2Strikeouts: 4All Star: Zach Grienke2010ERA: 14Hits allowed: 14Walks allowed: 10Home runs allowed: 12Strikeouts: 11All Star: 02011ERA: 12Hits allowed: 12Walks allowed: 14Home runs allowed: 11Strikeouts: 10All Star: 0Boston Red Sox2012ERA: 12Hits allowed: 11Walks allowed: 11Home runs allowed: 11Strikeouts: 8All Star: 0Just look at those rankings. What might be the most damning is what happened after he left each franchise. The Royals improved slightly in 2012 and, after adding James Shields and Jeremy Guthrie, became World Series contenders. Meanwhile, the Red Sox won the World Series on the strength of their pitching staff the next season. The lone bright spot on McClure's tenure is Zack Grienke's Cy Young Season in KC. But that goes up against Greg Holland, Andrew Miller, Mark Melancon, who pitched better after leaving his tutelage and highly touted prospects such as Luke Hochevar who never developed under him.A bad fit with the PhilliesUnder Andy MacPhail and Matt Klentak, the Phillies have stated that their goal is to grow arms. Is there any proof that McClure can develop a pitcher? His track record in Kansas City and Boston say not likely.His record in Philly reinforces that belief. The Phillies have several well regarded pitching prospects. Aaron Nola was the seventh overall pick. He was a top 40 prospect. Vincent Velasquez was a top 60 prospect. One could argue Jerad Eickhoff has pitched well under McClure's charge, but he's clearly taken a step back this year from last year.The pitching staff has not put up worthwhile numbers at all under McClure's watch.2014ERA: 12Hits allowed: 11Walks allowed: 14Home runs allowed: 9Strikeouts: 9All Star: 02015ERA: 14Hits allowed: 15Walks allowed: 8Home runs allowed: 15Strikeouts: 12All Star: 02016ERA: 12Hits allowed: 11Walks allowed: 4Home runs allowed: 14Strikeouts: 8All Star: 02017ERA: 14Hits allowed: 9Walks allowed: 3Home runs allowed: 15Strikeouts: 14All Star: 0The problems with this pitching staff are myriad. They can't put people away with two strikes. Because of that, the starters don't go deep into games. They give up a ton of home runs. The bullpen, despite having five arms - Pat Neshak, Joaquin Benoit, Hector Neris, Jeanmar Gomez- with strong track records, is in absolute disarray. I'd argue a lot of this comes down to planning. It's not one pitcher who doesn't have a good two-strike approac[...]

The Phillies are garbage. The rebuild is bullshit. Klentak and Co. are morons. Mackanin is a leader of losers. This is the worst they've been in my lifetime, hell, possibly my father's lifetime. I am not a fan of "booing", but dammit they deserve a heaping helping of it. See for yourself, they are literal trash...

Since the Phillies keep losing, currently on pace to lose 106 games this season, I figured I'd search for a Phillies related image that brought me a sense of joy. Here you go, may it ease your tortured Phan heart as well.

Remember when the Phillies had that 6 game winning streak? Yeah, me too, barely. The date was April 28th and the Phils were 11-9 and heading to the West Coast to take on the Dodgers. They lost that evening and have been losing on the regular ever since. They have 3 wins over the last 16 games and have fallen to the 3rd worst record in baseball and are tied for the fewest wins in MLB. The sadness continues...

The Phillies have given up an absurd amount of home runs. The team has given up 48 home runs in just 30 games. That puts them on a pace for 259, which would break the record 258 allowed by the 2016 Cincinnati Reds.The scary thing is the number of two-strike home runs the team has allowed. Let's take a look. Here are the pitchers who have been hit by two-strike home runs.

That's 19 2-strike home runs. To put that in perspective the Kansas City Royals have given up 27 home runs total all season. The Cleveland Indians have given up just 28 home runs in 2017. Let that sink in. The Phillies have given up a two-strike homer in two out of every three games.

That's madness.

What causes it? I'm not sure. Three parties deserve some part of the blame: the pitchers who aren't executing, the catchers who are calling the two-strike pitches, the pitching coach who sets the game plan.

It's still a small sample size, but Velasquez gave up seven two-strike home runs last season (24 starts) and four in six starts this year. Hellickson gave up 10 two-strike home runs in 32 starts in 2016 compared to three in seven this year.

What's interesting is, to a large extent, the cast involved is the same. It's the same pitchers, the same starting catcher, the same pitching coach.

I'd guess something is wrong in the game plan that is leading to bad pitch calling.